Meet our Board of Directors
We’ve had a committed Community Advisory Board for years, but this is a little different! Since becoming our own 501(c)3 in 2023, we are guided by our Board of Directors, which has legal responsibility for the organization, and provides oversight of both finances and the Executive Directors.
In order to make sure that young people remain at the center of organizational decision-making, we designed our bylaws to require the Board be made up of at least 50% current and former youth leaders.
The Board is not about one way mentorship of youth, but a reciprocal relationship where youth insight keeps the Board relevant and responsive. “It’s not hierarchical,” Noah Vargas (’25) said. “We all have a chance to speak, it’s an intergenerational space where our voice matters too. And sometimes as a youth, our voice actually matters the most.”
Fabio Ayala
Board Co-Chair – Assistant Director of Restorative Practices, Amherst College
Kia Burton-King
Pa’lante Parent & Family Coordinator for Community Action Pioneer Valley
Alexis Diaz
Peer Leader (‘27)
T’yana Garner
Social Worker, Juvenile Probation Officer, Direct Service Advocate with YWCA of Western-Mass, and Parent
Gabri Gonzalez
Community Care Responder & Parent of Pa'lante Peer Leaders
Raúl Gutiérrez
Professor and Chair of Language / Latinx Studies, Holyoke Community College
Salomé Moreno
Alum (’21) Teach for America Corps Member Springfield
Abdallah Mwanilelo
Alumni (’25) HCC Student
Mariely Ramos
Pa’lante Peer Leader (’27)
Naiomi Robles
Student Success Counselor at El Centro at Holyoke Community College
Ana Rodriguez
Board Treasurer, Retired Education Director of the Care Center
Jonathon Santana
Peer Leader (’27)
Jazzy Serrano
Peer Leader (’27)
Romeo Romero Sigle
Former Co-Director of Pa'lante and Network Coordinator for The Resource Organizing Project
